16 counts of child exploitation; 3 for guns
A Jones County man indicted in April on 16 counts of sexual exploitation of children and three firearm possession charges entered guilty pleas on all charges in Superior Court last week.
David Allen Dillard entered the guilty pleas June 20 and received 20 years for each of the 16 sexual exploitation of children charges and five years each for the three charges of possession of a firearm by convicted felony. All of the sexual exploitation of children charges will run concurrently as will the three firearm charges.
Those two groups of charges will run consecutively for a total sentence of 25 years with the first 10 years to serve. The remainder of the sentence may be served on probation. Dillard will receive credit for time served in custody from May 17, 2022, to Oct. 4, 2022, and the day of May 6, 2024. Assistant District Attorney Cara Fiore said the length of time between Dillard’s 2022 arrest and this year’s April 16 indictment had to do with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that investigated the case and took out the warrants for the defendant’s arrest.
The GBI was in possession of the evidence needed for the indictment of Dillard, and it took a year and a half for the evidence to be released to the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
The defendant could only be held for 90 days following his arrest without being indicted.
As a result, he was granted a $30,000 conditional bond in October of 2022.
Dillard’s arrest was announced in a May 23, 2022, press release from the GBI. He was 50 at the time of his arrest. The release stated that its Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit with the assistance of the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, the GBI Milledgeville Field Office and the GBI Middle Georgia Gang Task Force executed a warrant pertaining to an ongoing investigation.
The investigation started after multiple cyber tips were received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The tips involved the possession of and/or distribution of explicit child sexual abuse material, commonly known as child pornography.
A Jones County Sheriff’s Office deputy accompanied the GBI and assisted with Dillard’s arrest. The GBI said the investigation was part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to identify those involved in the child pornography trade.
Each of the first 16 counts of the April 16 indictment lists a specific image depicting child pornography possessed by Dillard. Counts 17-19 each lists a specific firearm found in his possession.
Dillard was convicted of felony burglary in 1992, which makes it illegal for him to possess a firearm.
